looking for a camera

coughcough · Jul 25, 2017

I am looking for a dslr with a budget of $600-ish, with a pentaprism viewfinder. Preferably Nikon or Canon, but I like canon a little better. I am looking for a camera for travels (national parks, other countries, etc.), birding, and special occasions (birthday pictures family photos) thanks!

getochkn · Jul 25, 2017

Canon is nice, has a zillion lenses available, but lacks in video compared to others. You'll soon want multiple lenses for everything you want to do. Travel and parks, etc, you will want a very wide angle lenses ~15mm. Up close, people shots, etc, you want to get into 40-55mm. Birding usually needs a decent telephoto in the 200mm or higher range. I went the mirrorless route myself. I thought I wouldn't like not having a viewfinder but having the live touchscreen view has worked for all my shots.

There is no right answer here and whatever you get, learn it well. If you've never used a DSLR or mirrorless camera before, you photos will only be about as good as a cell phone. Learning about photography, depth of field, apperture, ISO, etc, etc all can make the shot.

coughcough · Jul 25, 2017

thank you for the advice, and i get what you mean, but what would be a good body to use for the photos?

USAFRet · Jul 25, 2017

coughcough :

Canon/Nikon/Sony/Fuji/Pentax/Olympus....

Within a certain price range, you will get very similar images.
And the body is sort of secondary to the lenses. On the same body, different lenses can have vastly different image quality.

Alabalcho · Jul 25, 2017

A ready-made set like this one is a good starting point. Use the rest of your budget for tripod, bag, a memory card or two. Once you advance your skills, you can add better lenses.

getochkn · Jul 25, 2017

Also check out used on Craigslist or Kijiji or what's available in your area. Pro's always baby their gear and upgrade all the time and sometimes there are some really good deals. I overloaded on used lenses, so much that I have to sell some as I have overlapping. lol. Canon lenses are also great deals on EBay from place like Japan. They buy bundles over there we can't get, and then piece it off. I got brand new in box lenses from Japan from my mirrorless that were half the price I would pay from any online or brick and mortar store in Canada.

bicycle_repair_man · Jul 26, 2017

If you're specifically looking for pentaprism viewfinders from Canon and Nikon then you need to start with the 80D or D7200. Trouble is, you'll blow more than your entire budget on just the camera body.

If you don't mind second-hand then look at the Nikon D90 or Canon 60D. Both cameras are going cheap these days but they can still produce cracking images if you know what you're doing and equip a decent lens. Either camera with a 35mm or 50mm and 70-300mm lens would probably fit the bill very nicely.

Remember to try whichever cameras you shortlist to ascertain how easy they are to use. Also remember that you're not just buying a camera, you're buying into an ecosystem and it's difficult (and expensive) to switch to another one.

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